TrueType and non-free X fonts?

[Anton Zinoviev <anton@lml.bas.bg>]

Hi!

I have two comments about the X font policy.

This is an excerpt from the policy:

    5. Subdirectories of /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/ other than those
       listed above should be neither created nor used. (The PEX and
       cyrillic directories are excepted for historical reasons, but
       installation of files into these directories remains
       discouraged.)

In the recent proposal for policy change made by Branden Robinson, the
word `should' is replaced by `must'.

The policy says nothing about TrueType fonts and TrueType
subdirectory.

The packages sharefont and freefont (they contain non-free fonts)
place the fonts in sharefont and freefont subdirectories.  I think
that there is good reason about this -- we don't want to make these
fonts available to the font server by default.  Isn't it better if
each package with non-free fonts installs them in its own subdirectory
of /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts?

What do you think about the following variant of the policy:

  2. BDF fonts must be converted to PCF fonts with the bdftopcf
     utility (available in the xutils package, gzipped, and placed in
     a directory that corresponds to their resolution:

        * Free 100 dpi fonts must be placed in
          /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/.

        * Free 75 dpi fonts must be placed in
          /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/.

        * Free character-cell fonts, cursor fonts, and other
          low-resolution fonts must be placed in
          /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/.

  3. Free Speedo fonts must be placed in
     /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo/.

  4. Free Type 1 fonts must be placed in
     /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/.  If font metric files are
     available, they must be placed here as well.

  5. Free TrueType fonts must be placed in
     /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/TrueType/.

  5. Subdirectories of /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/ other than those
     listed above may be created or used only for installing non-free
     fonts. (The PEX and cyrillic directories are excepted for
     historical reasons, but installation of files into these
     directories remains discouraged.)

Of cource this is not an official proposal for policy change, but only
a question.

Anton Zinoviev, zinoviev@debian.org